Today, March 22, is World Water Day. So what? Water changes everything: I first learned of World Water Day two years ago. Some of what I wrote then still applies: I don’t know about you, but I generally don’t even notice just how available water is to me. Among the kitchen sink, the water dispenser in our …
Category: Justice
Women and girls
"There's nothing like having a daughter for turning you into a feminist," remarked a parishioner after a sermon I gave sometime ago. While I remember neither the specific statement I made nor exactly when this exchange occurred, I vividly remember thinking, "I really hope I was a feminist before we had a daughter. Maybe I …
Victory! What’s next?
Thursday was a really good day. After months and even years of delay, the U.S. House of Representatives FINALLY passed the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) - and with it the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA)! The General Board of Church & Society of The United Methodist Church reminded us what The United Methodist …
‘Break the Chains…Women Are Not Possessions’
It's noon on Valentine's Day. It's time to dance and break the chains! If I could be, I would be downtown dancing with Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation (CAASE) or War Chest Boutique: Naperville to join in with 1 Billion Rising. UPDATE: Check out pictures from CAASE's rising in Daley Plaza. A friend who works …
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Faiths United to Prevent Gun Violence
As I wrote on Thursday afternoon, word broke of yet another shooting at a school. This time a 14-year-old was shot at a middle school in Atlanta, Georgia. According to police, the suspect is in custody and the wounded student is “alert.” Both suspect and victim are students at the middle school. This shooting occurred: …
‘a people robbed and plundered…trapped in holes and hidden’
I must admit that the list of national observance days and months is overwhelming and often tedious if not down right ridiculous. For instance, January sports National Fresh Squeezed Juice Week and National Handwriting Analysis Week. This month is National Get Organized Month, Oatmeal Month, and National Polka Music Month, among many others. (Ok, my …
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Seething anger, making space
I love my wife. I love our daughter. I love my mom. I love my aunts. I love my cousins. I love my sisters-in-law. I love our niece. I loved my grandma. I love my friends. I love my parishioners. I love my neighbors. I love the scores and scores of teachers, doctors, clerks, nurses, …
Celebrating Freedom
Happy Independence Day to all my USAmerican readers! It's been a while since my last post on human trafficking, so what better day to rectify that than today, the national holiday celebrating freedom? Ok, sure, most of us just use today as an excuse to blow stuff up. Doesn't mean we can't try to redeem …
I must not remain silent
Our lives begin to end on the day we remain silent about things that matter. - Martin Luther King, Jr. If you've been on the interwebs at all this week, you've probably heard of Charles Worley, Pastor at Providence Road Baptist Church in Maiden, NC. There are at least two words in that clause that …
Making hungry people hungrier is unacceptable, Part 2: Showing my work
I recently shared this post that was originally published on Bread for the World's Bread Blog. I would understand if you thought my conclusions in that post seemed a bit like a math student who simply writes down an answer. Even though the answer is correct, you'd still like to know how she got there. …
Continue reading Making hungry people hungrier is unacceptable, Part 2: Showing my work
All That I Can't Leave Unsaid 